The present invention relates to end connector assemblies that are adapted to be connected with and disconnected from the ball of a ball stud, and more particularly, to end connector assemblies that are adapted for use with gas springs employed in automotive applications.
End connector assemblies have been used for years in many applications. These assemblies have been and are utilized to mechanically interconnect relatively movable parts. Increasingly, such assemblies have been employed for use with gas springs in the automotive field, where the gas springs are utilized to control the positioning of relatively movable parts. Examples of end connector assemblies, which are usable in automotive applications, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,372,446; 5,417,512; and 5,676,484. The disclosures of these patents are incorporated herein by reference.
In end connector assemblies currently being used with gas springs in automotive applications, the ball of a ball stud is inserted into the connector body along a path normal to the longitudinal axis of the gas spring, that is, the axis of the gas spring shaft. In most current connector assemblies, once the connector body has properly engaged onto the ball, a tool is required to remove the connector assembly from the ball stud. The structures of currently available gas spring connector assemblies make it inconvenient, time consuming and difficult for a person to remove a gas spring end connector assembly from a ball stud.
An example of a situation of where the facile removal of a gas spring end connector assembly from a ball stud would be particularly desirable and helpful is where the gas spring is used to control the positioning of a tonneau cover or lid such as those used to cover the bed of a pickup truck. When the gas spring is fully extended, the tonneau cover is opened to a given angle. Removal of the gas spring end connector assembly would allow the cover to be raised more fully so as to provide more open space for loading and unloading the pickup truck bed. This full raising of the tonneau cover requires a temporary disconnection of one of the gas spring end connector assemblies. Additionally, full removal of the tonneau cover is sometimes desired in order to transport large loads in the truck bed. This also requires temporary disconnection of one of the gas spring end connector assemblies.
Gas springs are frequently installed on vehicles so as to be close as possible to adjacent parts of the vehicle and as unobtrusive as practicable. Having to disconnect and reconnect a connector assembly to the ball stud by moving the connector body along a path generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the ball stud is often difficult and time consuming.
A need has long existed for an end connector assembly that could be conveniently and facially disconnected from and then reconnected with a ball stud in the “field” and by movement along a path substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the gas spring on which the connector assembly is mounted.